An additional simple denitrification bioreactor using packed gel envelopes applicable to industrial wastewater treatment

A simple denitrification bioreactor for nitrate-containing wastewater without organic compounds was developed. This bioreactor consisted of packed gel envelopes in a single tank. Each envelope comprised two plates of gels containing Paracoccus denitrificans cells with an internal space between the plates. As an electron donor for denitrification, ethanol was injected into the internal space and not directly into the wastewater. P. denitrificans cells in the gel reduced nitrate to nitrogen gas by using the injected ethanol. Nitrate-containing desulfurization wastewater derived from a coal-fired thermal power plant was continuously treated with 20 packed gel envelopes (size, 1,000 x 900 x 12 mm; surface area, 1.44 m(2)) in a reactor tank (volume 1.5 m(3)). When the total nitrogen concentration in the inflow was around 150 mg-N x L(-1), the envelopes removed approximately 60-80% of the total nitrogen, and the maximum nitrogen removal rate was 5.0 g-N x day(-1) per square meter of the gel surface. This value corresponded to the volumetric nitrogen removal performance of 0.109 kg-N x m(-3) x day(-1). In each envelope, a high utilization efficiency of the electron donor was attained, although more than the double amount of the electron donor was empirically injected in the present activated sludge system to achieve denitrification when compared with the theoretical value. The bioreactor using the envelopes would be extremely effective as an additional denitrification system because these envelopes can be easily installed in the vacant spaces of preinstalled water treatment systems, without requiring additional facilities for removing surplus ethanol and sludge.